Market Trends:The decision of the owner of Connaught Place, a five-bed Georgian house on Crofton Road in Dún Laoghaire, to rent rather than sell shows how the market has changed.
After several weeks of poor auction sales, the owner has put the 464sq m (5,000sq ft) house on the rental market for €8,000 a month. Iris Devine of rental agency Lansdowne Property says that, although the rent is high for the area, "it's understandable when you see how high spec it is". As well as remote control gas fires in the formal rooms and the main bedroom, there's mood control lighting and underfloor heating in the family room and kitchen.
The plush main bedroom, with en suite bathroom, spans an entire floor of the three-storey over basement house and there are four Philippe Starck bathrooms and a steam room in the main bathroom.
Downstairs, there are two interconnecting reception rooms and a study. The gleaming cream kitchen has all mod cons, including a wine cooler and automatic coffee maker and an American fridge/freezer. The garden is landscaped with a water feature and exterior lighting.
According to Devine, the corporate market is fairly buoyant at the moment and, while most of the corporate lettings on her agency's books are in the €3,000-€5,000 per month bracket, this one is more likely to appeal to the likes of a high profile banker or embassy official with a family who likes to entertain.
Closeby in Sandycove, property developers Robin Power and his wife Michelle Kavanagh recently achieved €15,000 per month for a newly-built five-bedroom house on the Sandycove seafront.
